Harry sighed, letting his head rest against the window, absentmindedly watching the Equestrian countryside fly by as the train sped towards his destination.

Ponyville, the small town on the edge of the Everfree Forest, set in the shadow of the capitol city. A town where Zebrecan shamanesses shopped for herbs, a minotaur set up an assertiveness seminar, an animal caretaker stared a cockatrice and a fully grown dragon, the Apple family’s ancestral farm proudly stood, a budding fashion designer set up shop, a candy making party planner repeatedly bucked the laws of physics in the face and a self-proclaimed ‘future Wonderbolt’ practiced and captained the local Weather Team.

He could practically recite the names, professions and various claims to fame of Twilight’s newest friends; her P.B.F.F.s, as she referred to them in one letter.

A smile spread across his face, that mare certainly loved her acronyms. What was it she called him, again? S.B.B.F.F.? Yes, that was it.

His Study Buddy Best Friend Forever, a name which came complete with memories of late night studying, snuggling up against his mother at the end of a long day of learning, book forts, teaching baby Spike how to talk and use his magical dragon fire, and hiding from Shining Armor and Cadence whenever they declared that it was ‘bed time’ for little foals.

As much as it bothered him that he couldn’t continue his work, seeing Twilight was a welcome change of pace. Harry truly did miss her, and little Spike, too. Even if his meticulously organized clutter drove both of them – Spike was as much a neat freak as she was, no matter how much he protested – to beating him over the head with a daily planner.

Seriously. Twilight had done that once. It wasn’t fun nor did it help him get organized. It was the first and only time he’d ever seen her go zero-for-two.

Of course, when he pointed that last little tidbit out, Harry had been on the receiving end of one of her patented annoyed glares, which shut him up rather quickly.

Yes, thinking positively like that would help with the transition. Who knows? Maybe his mother had a point. Maybe seeing Twilight and Spike again would help him unwind a bit, so to speak, and improve his outlook on life.

If her stories were anything to go by, her little herd of friends were quite the lively bunch, so he’d hardly be short any entertainment during his stay. From the prospective Wonderbolt to the wacky party pony, they did seem like a barrel of laughs.

Come to think of it, he didn’t have to deal with any of those whiny nobles complaining that his research was ‘disturbing the peace’ – he was opening a bloody dimensional rift, for Maker’s sake! Of course there was going to be some noise!

Bucking idiots.

And, along the same lines, he didn’t have to show up at any overly formal parties or get dragged to one of Blueblood’s ‘social networking events.’ Social networking his cutie mark, Blueblood just wanted somepony to sit next to and make snide comments to. Granted, they had some fun taking the piss out of Jet Set and Upper Crust, but still… not exactly Harry’s idea of a good time.

Now, if they wanted to start up a discussion on the properties of anti-matter, that was an entirely different story.

Yes, he could definitely do without the constant griping of nobles, and, as a matter of fact, a few others as well. He didn’t have to watch what he did or said, lest some media pony be lurking; he didn’t have to worry about offending some foreign dignitary; hay, he wouldn’t even have to keep making excuses to duck out of some noble’s stupid party!

But above all else, there was one thing he was simply ecstatic that he could now avoid: the presence of that irritating, smug, little troll who just popped in and out of the palace as he pleased.

Harry snorted. “No more of that old nuisance!” He closed his eyes, smiling contently as he tried to get a bit of rest in before his arrival.

“Au contraire, mon capitain!” Harry’s eyes snapped open, his head turned sharply to the source of the voice – and was greeted by a most unwelcome sight.

Body comprised seemingly of animal parts selected at random, clad in a mariachi uniform, holding a pair of maraca, was the Lord of Chaos, Disorder and Disharmony himself.

Discord.

Banging his head against the glass and closing his eyes, as if hoping he could pretend this was all a bad dream, Harry grumbled under his breath. “Buck my life.”

This was going to be a long two hours.

- - -    

If she didn’t know better, Twilight would’ve sworn that her brain was bouncing around inside her skull.

Why’s that? Well, funny you should ask…

“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL MEEEEEEEEEEEEE?!” Pinkie wailed, roughly shaking her friend by her shoulders.

“PInkIE! I’m SOrRY! I ThoUGHT I HAD!” Came the librarian’s reply, her voice distorted as she was jostled back and forth. Pinkie released her, letting her stumble over and fall to the floor, eyes swirling comically as they tried to reorient themselves to their surroundings.

“Twi-LIIIIGHT!” Pinkie Pie whined, stomping a hoof in frustration. “I would’ve made this party twice – no – a gazillion times better if I’d known Harry was Prince Morningstar and Prince Morningstar was Harry and he was your friend! Now I’ve lost all that time I could’ve been planning a really-extra-special-Prince-slash-best-friend-welcome-to-Ponyville-hope-we-can-be-bestest-friends-too-party!”

A low, gibberish filled moan was all the response that greeted her, causing the party mare to frown. This was not good; this was completely and totally, one hundred percent not good!

Rounding on a certain drake, who was trying to edge out of sight, Pinkie jabbed a hoof in his direction. “What time is Prince Harry-berry Morningstar gonna be here?”

“Oh – uh – two hours – uh – ma’am!” Spike replied, snapping to attention and throwing up a salute as though he were a cadet in Shining Armor’s Guard.

“Not a lot of time, but we can work with it! Alright! Ponies: assemble!”

Everypony in the immediate vicinity dropped whatever it was they were doing and shot over, standing in front of the party guru in a straight line, faces grim and ready to receive orders.

Pinkie took parties very seriously, so when she said ‘jump’ to anypony aiding her, they didn’t even bother asking ‘how high.’

They jumped and jumped and jumped until she said ‘okie-dokie-loki, we’re good!’

That’s just how these things go. Welcome to Ponyville.

“Alright, ponies! Turns out that somepony,” she aimed an accusatory glare at Twilight, who was still struggling to right herself after being thoroughly shaken. “Forgot to tell us that Prince Morningstar is really Prince Harry-berry, her best friend before she came to Ponyville! We’ve only got a couple of hours, so we’re gonna have to work super-extra-hard to pull this off and make this the most amazing party ever! Any questions?”

In unison, her makeshift troops shook their heads, awaiting whatever orders she gave.

“Good! Now, you ponies on the right! I want more balloons, bigger, brighter and balloonier than before! Ponies on the left, we’re gonna need even more snacks from Sugarcube Corner, so help Mr. and Mrs. Cake move them over! Tell them to put it on my tab and I’ll explain later! Applejack!”

“Whatcha need, Sugarcube?”

“Do you still have some cider in storage, the stuff that Twilight put a stasis spell on?”

“Sure do! We been savin’ it fer somethin’ special! An’ Ah’d say this fits the bill!”

“Perfect! You and Macky grab a barrel or two and bring it back, double pronto! Fluttershy!”

The butter-yellow pegasus gave a startled squeak at her friend’s volume and sudden attention. “Y-Yes?” She whimpered, nearly inaudible.

For an instant, Pinkie considered asking about her singing birds, but dashed the thought; there just wasn’t enough time! Plus, Fluttershy would get all frowny and teary and squeaky if she was put under that much pressure without fair notice!

So much to do, so many ponies to direct, so very little time!

With that in mind, Pinkie knew exactly what to do to prevent any nervous breakdowns on the part of her ever-shy friend. “You can help me! I’ve got a bunch of party stuff stashed all over Ponyville! We can make this the most stupendous party ever!”

“Oh-Oh, okay,” Fluttershy replied softly, smiling in relief that she wouldn’t have to do anything too stressful. Decorations were fun and easy; she wouldn’t be put on the spot or in danger of being embarrassed in front of royalty!

Thank Celestia!

“Great! Now, Rarity…” Pinkie trailed off, noticing that there was somepony missing from formation. “Rarity? Rarity! This is no time to play hide-and-seek! We have emergency party protocol to discuss!”

“I’m not hiding, I’m trying to fix everything!” Came a dismayed reply from Ponyville’s fashionista. Turning toward the source of her panicked voice, one found Rarity, horn alight with magic, frantically trying to correct the name displayed in those bold green letters.

A few ponies took a step back; Derpy scooped Dinky up into her wing for protection as they beheld the near manic expression on the typically prim and proper unicorn’s face.

The lack of formalities involved in the party planning had been difficult enough for her to wrap her head around, she’d argued vehemently in favor of more of an upper class feel to this event, but had been shot down rather quickly by Spike and Twilight. But add in the Canterlotian duo’s little faux pas and the fact that said Prince of Equestria was their oldest and closest friend…

It was a rare moment in which Rarity and Pinkie were of similar mind: this party should have been planned out to be bigger and far more special! Not that they hadn’t given their full effort initially, but it was the principle of the matter that made it feel as though it should have been more.

The Prince was Twilight’s friend; by right, they should have made it as extravagant an affair as the times when Princess Celestia had graced them with her presence. But a certain student librarian had put her hoof down and convinced them to ‘tone it down’ a bit, for his benefit.

Her knowledge of exactly what he would and wouldn’t enjoy should have been a big hint that her relationship with him wasn’t mere happenstance, but that was hindsight for you.

All those hints dropped, the opportunity wasted, and the sudden discovery that –

“Uh, Rarity,” Spike called nervously from his position beside Twilight. “You can leave the banner the way it is. Really. He’ll just grumble a bit and blush. He always does.”

He flinched at the stern look his longtime crush aimed in his direction. “I’m surprised at you, Spike! I’d think that you, as Prince Harry’s friend, would want this mistake corrected and for us to give our guest the best possible welcome to our beloved town!”

“But –“

“No buts!” Pinkie threw in, popping up beside the young drake and very nearly scaring him out of his scales. She glared down at Spike, leaning in close enough “Silly looks on Harry-berry’s face or not, this party is going to be amazing or my name isn’t Pinkamena Diane Pie! Got it?”

“Got it!” He squeaked. Internally, that was Spike’s cue to take a step back and keep his mouth shut until it got a bit less Pinkie in Town Hall.

Actually, Spike felt it would be best to wait until it got a lot less Pinkie in here!

Pinkie nodded to herself, satisfied that she’d gotten her point across, and turned to the last remaining pony. “Dashie, I think you know what a super-special-awesome party calls for!”

“Aye, aye, Captain Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash replied, throwing up a salute. “One Sonic Rainboom charged, primed and ready to fire!”

“Alrighty-tighty! Well, you all know what to do! Ready? BREAK!”

It was at that point that Twilight’s world stopped spinning and her brain managed to make sense of what was going on. “Okay, no!” She snapped, channeling magic into her horn and engulfing everypony in her telekinetic field. “This has gone on long enough! You’re all going to sit down and listen to me, right now!”

Being forced into sitting positions and locked in place by the magical field of Princess Celestia’s personal student, the very same mare who’d tamed an Ursa Minor and wielded forbidden time travel magic, effectively silenced any and all protests before they could even be voiced.

And if that wasn’t the root cause, the look of irritation and utter seriousness on Twilight’s face was a rather big hint that her limit for craziness had been reached – and Pinkie hadn’t even pulled out her suction cups yet.

All eyes were on the local librarian as she paced back and forth, her gaze locking on each pony in turn. “I know that Spike and I messed up, me especially, but it was an honest mistake. However, even so, I wouldn’t change a thing about this party. Normally, Pinkie, I would gladly follow your plan – but this is probably the one time that I can say that one of your big, extravagant parties wouldn’t work out.”

Pinkie raised a hoof and made to object, but Twilight covered her mouth before she could start in on the importance of big parties, or something of the like. “Listen, Pinkie. I’ve known him ten years, I know what he likes; I know what makes him uneasy, grin like a little colt, laugh in that silly way he does, makes him angry, scared or deathly serious. I know the stallion, not just ‘Prince Harry Morningstar,’ or whatever ponies like to call him. That being said, when I tell you that he doesn’t like big parties like – well – most ponies in town, I really mean it. Got it?”

Twilight eased her hold on the group just enough to allow them to nod slowly in unison. She did make a good point. Well…

A good point to everypony not named Pinkie. “B-But…” She whimpered, her eyes widening to the size of plates and shimmering with tears as she employed her most lethal weapon. “Party, Twilight!”

“You can have a few more balloons and one extra kind of cupcakes, but that’s all!” Twilight groaned, messaging her forehead with a hoof.

Pinkie squealed and shot off out the door, leaving everypony present wondering just how in the hay she’d managed to do so when Twilight still had them in her telekinesis.

Any glances towards the flustered librarian were met only with grumblings of ‘darn it, Pinkie’ just before she released the rest of the group so they might return to their regularly scheduled duties. Well, the rest of the group minus four.

“Sooo, we’re not gonna make this some fancy-shmancy thing?” Applejack asked in summary. “Works fer me, Ah guess.”

“It would be nice to make him comfortable,” Fluttershy agreed, meekly lowing her head. “Meeting new ponies is always (eep!) scary!”

Though Fluttershy’s meek and timid nature could be somewhat grating, Twilight jumped to affirm her statement. “That’s just it, Fluttershy!”

Her sudden exclamation caused the butter-yellow mare to flinch at the volume, but she slowly raised her head, returning her gaze to meet her friends’ eyes, and gave a small smile of gratitude. “O-Oh, um, thank you… but… Twilight, won’t Prince Harry -“

“Just Harry.” Both Twilight and Spike corrected in unison, rolling their eyes as if this was part of old dialogue.

“Ah… okay, uh, if I’m right, then won’t Harry get frightened by this?”

The library inhabitants shared an uneasy smile. “Well, a bit,” Twilight admitted. “But, not exactly frightened in the sense that you are, Fluttershy. Uh, no offense.”

Fluttershy just gave a sheepish grin, she couldn’t exactly object to that point; she did admit that even she considered herself to be weak and helpless to Discord.

“Yeah, he doesn’t quite go hiding – well, not anymore – he just gets really, really nervous around big crowds of ponies.” Spike added. “It depends on what’s going on really – he can lecture and teach science and math, but he gets fidgety and twitchy, especially at stuff like the Grand Galloping Gala.”

“The Grand – Spike, I don’t mean to take away from your point, but we didn’t see him at the Gala!” Rarity objected. “Perhaps he might be a bit anti-social, but wouldn’t he have been at Princess Celestia’s side with Twilight to greet entrants? Or, at the very least, come by to say hello?”

“He couldn’t go,” Twilight replied, her ears pinning back as the memory came forth in full force. All those little emotions from that day were still very real, from the moment Princess Celestia’s letter arrived to the sight of her old friend laying, bloodied and broken, in a hospital bed. “That was right after his accident. He still hadn’t woken up yet…”

Acting quickly, Spike moved beside his de facto sister and boss, placing a comforting claw on her foreleg. It bothered him almost as much as it did her, but the pair had been helping one another deal with their mutual feelings. “C’mon Twilight, he’s okay now! He cleared physical rehab!” Seeing violet ears perk up a bit, he continued. “Besides, Harry’s here for fun, not work!”

“Heh. You’re right, Spike.” That reassurance did make her feel a bit better; as much as she supported his work, it was comforting to know that he wouldn’t be putting himself in any danger trying to open up dimensional rifts in his basement. “I suppose our only real problem will be making sure he sticks to his ‘no work’ stipulation.”

Rarity cleared her throat to get their attention before they managed to transition into another anecdote about the young Prince. She knew better, by now, than to bother too much about the specifics of his accident and hospital stay. Anytime somepony tried, the two either launched into an angry rant about how much of an utter idiot he could be or got quiet and depressed at the memory of their first visit to his room.

Neither of which were any fun to deal with.

“Well, that explains his absence at the Gala, but it doesn’t quite explain his aversion to big affairs!” She noted, with a delicate brow raised in questioning. “Surely, having lived in the palace with Princess Celestia, being raised in the high society of Canterlot, going to such a prestigious school and being invited to all sorts of high social events is the norm for him, yes?”

Her question was met with pair of cringes. “Actually, that’s where you’re wrong,” Twilight began. “Harry’s always been… well, he just finds a lot of the high society life incredibly dull. Hay, the only time he ever used to really smile at those was if Princess Celestia, his cousins, Shiny, Spike or I were with him. Otherwise, he did his best to avoid it unless he absolutely had to – like at a grant function for his research.”

“Heh, so he prefers work to fancy-shmancy parties?” Applejack cut in, rubbing her chin in consideration. “Seems like mah kind o’ stallion, let alone mah kind o’ Prince!”

“Hay yeah!” Rainbow hooted, pumping a hoof. “If he can take a joke and doesn’t have a massive stick up his plot like some of those snobs from the Gala, I can deal with the additional egghead!”

“Gee, thanks Rainbow!” Twilight drawled. “You really now how to make a mare feel good.”

Her response earned her a light whack from one of the cyan mare’s wings. “Aw, c’mon, Twilight! You know what I mean! You’re cool in your own eggheady, smart, awesomely magical way! I just think it’s totally rad that your friend isn’t finicky and stuffy. Like somepony can be!”

“I am not!” Came the inevitable reply. “Just because I have an appreciation for fashion and decorum doesn’t mean that I’m a snob!”

“It’s a joke, Rares, sheesh!”

“Oh, sheesh yourself! Back to the topic at hoof,” Rarity returned her gaze to Twilight and Spike. “I’m sorry, dears, maybe it’s just me, but I just can’t seem to wrap my head around this – you speak so highly of Prince Harry –“

“Just Harry.”

“- Until he says otherwise, I will address him with his proper title! Now, as I was saying, you speak so highly of him, but you make him seem like he would rather ignore his status and pretend he’s just an ordinary pony!”

“Exactly,” Spike answered with a shrug. “Well, an ordinary pony who’s just as smart and nearly as powerful as Twilight, with doctorates in magic and physics, a research lab, and whose guest lectures usually end up having ponies turned away at the door because the auditoriums are so full, but yeah, that’s pretty much him.”

Rainbow gave a low whistle. “Okay, wow. That’s actually pretty awesome. Sounds like he’s draws a crowd whenever he talks about that egghead stuff, huh?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Twilight chuckled. “He told me that he has to look past them so he doesn’t see just how many ponies he’s talking to or he gets really nervous!”

“O-Oh, dear! I know the feeling!” Fluttershy squeaked. “B-But Twilight, i-if Harry can do all that, why don’t you ever lecture to crowds?”

“Well, I’m doing in depth studies into the theories of magic,” she replied. “I managed to get my own doctorates in magical theory, application and history of the magical arts, but, right now, I’m working on my own dissertation on the magic of friendship. Once we have more information on how our everyday relationships affect magic itself, I’ll probably do a few lectures on the subject before I find another project.”

“Heh, two big shots like you ‘n Harry in little, ol’ Ponyville,” Applejack drawled. “Ah can hardly believe it. Still, yer pal seems so much like ya, but pretty different too. Ah’d go as far as sayin’ that he’s pretty much as far away from a fairytale prince as he can get!”

“He’s as far away from what most of Canterlot society can get!” Rarity all but whimpered. “I’m sorry, dear, but I just have to say it: from the way you describe him, he has no interest in high society and would rather study than to establish a social network! He doesn’t even sound like he appreciates the culture!”

Twilight frowned slightly. “He appreciates our culture quite a bit, actually. We both used to go to Canterlot Museum to visit the exhibits on the Classical Equestrian era or the works of Starswirl the Bearded or…”

She was cut off by an alabaster hoof being placed against her mouth. “It’s exactly as Rainbow Dash thought.” Rarity noted, her brows almost perfectly horizontal. “There are now two highly educated, Canterlotians with no appreciation for elite society. This… I don’t even know what to call this, other than the absolute worst. Possible. Th – MMPH!”

Sometimes, even Twilight had to admit that Pinkie had a point – cupcakes could be very effective in ending a conversation.

---  

The idea of shattering the window and throwing himself out of a moving train, leaving everything to chance. Harry ran through some calculations, idly musing on whether or not he’d survive such an impact, given the speed at which the train was going and the terrain that he’d be falling onto.

Yeah. There was a chance that he’d survive, albeit with more than half of the bones in his body broken, but he’d be alive enough for his mother to tear him a new one.

Not exactly on my list of things to do, Harry concluded. It probably wasn’t worth doing, no matter how better than the alternative it was.

Frankly, he wasn’t sure what drove Discord to do whatever he did, but he was somewhat torn as to which part of this little matter was worse:

The fact that he’d made a full band appear or the fact that the music was catchy.

Clearly, he desperately needed to have his head examined.